Damascus / AFP Syrian government troops on Tuesday took control of a central rebel-held district in Aleppo city, where the army is pressing an operation to retake opposition territory, a military source said. “The army retook control of all of the Farafira district northwest of the Aleppo citadel after neutralising many terrorists. Units are now demining the area,” the ...

  Istanbul / AFP Turkey has dismissed 87 staff from its spy agency over alleged links to the failed July 15 coup, state media said on Tuesday, in the first purge of one of the country’s most powerful institutions. The National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) has suspended 141 personnel in an internal probe over links to US-based preacher Fethullah Gulen who ...

  Tehran / AFP Iran is not ready to compromise on the issues of intelligence sharing, sanctions and definitions of terrorist groups in order to join an international task force against terror financing, a minister said on Tuesday. Iran, along with North Korea, is blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and aims to be removed from “high risk ...